American and US Airways merger expected today

(NBC) Sources tell NBC News American and US Airways boards just approved the merger, clearing the way for today's announcement.

The new airline will be named American - with a new logo.

US Airway's CEO will keep his title. American's chief becomes chairman of the new airline until the middle of next year. "It will be the largest airline in the world and so more routes to earn those frequent flyer miles and elite miles," says Brian Kelly from thepointsguy.com.

But the merger has many frequent flyers wondering whether they'll be able to keep miles that they've earned flying American Airlines.

Probably so. The programs will likely combine, bumping more travelers up to elite status. "They're really sensitive. They don't want people to think they got the short end of the stick with the merger," says Brian Kelly from thepointsguy.com.

"In the long term, this is going to be less competition, and this is going to raise ticket prices, but in the short term, we're already going to see higher prices," says Rick Seaney from farecompare.com.

But it may also be easier to get where you're going. American will expand on the east coast. Adding US Airways will add more routes to Europe and Latin America.

The new airline will have more than 3,000, 900 planes, and 95,000 employees.

But there will be no changes right away. American's bankruptcy judge has to approve the merger, and that could take four to six months.